Torrent description

While this band could swing with the best of them, it was already equally disposed
to letting the tunes break down in ways that could only happen when a telepathic
sense of interplay is involved. "Milestones," for example, was traditionally taken at
breakneck speed with little letup. But in the hands of this quintet the tempo drops
and picks up, in intuitive ways that few groups of the time could manage. And
Hancock's classical upbringing brought a greater degree of impressionism than
any pianist previously with Davis, save perhaps Bill Evans, although Hancock's
approach already displayed a greater abstraction, something that would continue
to evolve as the members of the quintet became even more comfortable with each
other. The group's sense of dynamics are impeccable, most notably in the case of
Williams, who may have possessed the brashness of youth, but already
demonstrated a more mature vision than many drummers twice his age.

While Coleman would eventually become a bone of contention, in particular with
Williams, at this point in the quintet's evolution he was a good fit. Yes, he may have
treated the rhythm section a bit too traditionally as a rhythm section, whereas Davis
was already letting it drive him as much as he directed it, but the disparity that
would become more evident later had yet to appear.